Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth in name alone implies certain themes. Greed. Exploitation. Instability. Appropriate topics for a series (once known as Yakuza, RIP) that so often has our heroes struggle to protect innocence in Japan’s criminal underbelly. But Infinite Wealth isn’t just a story about excess, it embodies that overabundance with an almost untrackable number of things to see, do, and level up – easily making for the series’ grandest entry yet while still (somehow!) tightening up its predecessor’s sloppy first attempt at an RPG.
This latest entry takes our loveable goofball Ichiban Kasuga overseas to the shores of Hawaii in search of his long-lost mother, where he also runs into the series’ often-resurrected main man Kazuma Kiryu, who happens to be there on a similar mission.
Playing the introductory three hours gives you the basic gist of what to expect for the next 50: violent stakes juxtaposed with some of gaming’s most zany side activities; considered cinematography and occasionally overindulgent cutscenes; and protagonists that are impossible to hate, all messily thrown together like loopy soba noodles spilled onto the floor. And, really, where else could you punch up two literal excavators while dressed as a dominatrix?
